Project Sayong Summary

RESHAPING MALAY COLLEGE FOR THE FUTURE

Preamble
The decline of MCKK in terms of Academic achievements, Sports and Co-curricular excellence, Discipline and Leadership has been continuously highlighted by various parties.

The Board of Governors of Malay College Kuala Kangsar (“MCKK”) created a sub-committee to review MCKK’s current state and define its roadmap. “Project Sayong” was kicked-off on 23 July 2005 for this purpose, with a working committee formed, headed by (now Tan Sri) Dato’ Azman Mokhtar.

The Project Sayong team gathered input through secondary research; through interviews with old boys, teachers (current and ex-teachers), students, and others who had connections with MCKK; and through round-table discussions. Generally, the deliverables of the Project Sayong reflect the consensus of the majority of old boys—seniors and juniors—on what should be the ideal action plans to raise the standards at MCKK, to ensure the College remain relevant and respected for the next century, and to become the benchmark for others to emulate.

The Project Sayong has now been passed to the Implementation Workgroup sub-committee within the Board, chaired by Tun Mohammad Hanif Omar and headed by Hj. Khalilur Rahman Ebrahim.

The Project Sayong Final Deliverables come in three volumes.

Volume 1 contains the diagnosis of MCKK, gap analysis, and benchmark documents. Key messages in this volume:
• Identification of emerging (including both national and regional) characteristics and trends relevant to the outlook for MCKK
• Identification of strengths and weaknesses (efficiencies and inefficiencies)
• MCKK organization, capabilities and operational performance report card
• Prioritized list of major issues to focus on key challenges
• Detailed documentation of profile of each comparator schools/ models
• Strategy, operations, organization, performance, etc
• Identification of strategies, operations performance, strengths and weaknesses of each comparator school/ model

Volume 2 outlines the strategic direction for MCKK. Key messages in this volume are:
• Define new model and strategic objectives for MCKK
• Clear understanding of the scope of change needed to succeed in the changing environment
• Formulate the vision and requirements for implementing the necessary strategies

Volume 3 contains the transformation road map:
• Develop recommendations for new organization - aligned with defined strategy for MCKK
• Define supporting implementation roadmap for MCKK’s transformation journey
• Implementation Plan linked to concrete timelines and action plans
• Outline updated, quantifiable and actionable targets

THE MALAY COLLEGE KUALA KANGSAR
STRATEGIC DIRECTION IDENTIFIED

Vision and Mission
• Leadership is the Main agenda
• Education is part of the Human Capital Pipeline for the nation
• MCKK shall pave the way forward for others to follow as a National agenda
• The Vision: Leaders of Tomorrow to the spirit of Fiat Sapientia Virtus
• The Mission: To create Achievers
With Personality & Character
Able to successfully carry themselves
With the right Values

Governance and Structure
• Autonomy to the Board of Governors. BoG to establish Terms of Reference (ToR)
• MCKKS’ Chain of Command: MoE to BoG to MCKK
• MCKK remains under MoE as a Special Status school
• And under the Royal Patronage of the Conference of Rulers (to est. ToR)
• The BoG is represented by all stakeholders – Conf. of Rulers, MoE, MCOBA, PTA
• Yayasan MCKK - an endowment funded by the Government and Private initiative
• HM empowered to make leadership/ educational direction and decision

Management
• Stewardship of MCKK designed to maximize potentials in students
• HM is given Autonomy within the strategies and policies set by the BoG
• Leadership is enhanced through the House System
• Management (3 Areas): Academic, Student Development, Admin/ Bursar
• Explicitly Defined Roles for each staff in MCKK
• MCKK shall have Upgraded/ New facilities with the Latest Technology

Students
• Special Admission is needed for MCKK. Having a balanced Composition and power to Remove & Reaccept Students is a must
• Leadership is the main agenda, consciously and actively inculcated into the students
• Academic Excellence shall not be compromised. Syllabus is tailored to address individual capabilities. Arts Stream is reintroduced.
• The development of Soft Skills is an important survival skill
• Noble Values need to be imbued into the students
• The right Environment is a must; freedom to explore/ learn, global exposure through exchange programs, Kuala Kangsar developed into Center of Education
• The Traditions & Culture in line with the Vision & Mission should be continued
• Health is given attention; a good diet and a healthy environment

Teachers
• Special Selection of teachers a must; they should be the best
• Composition and Population of teachers are given attention
• The rewards for being an MCKK staff should also be above other schools
• Training and Development of teachers is an MCKK priority
• Coaches will be hired to attend to sports development
• A Monitoring System will monitor the teachers/ coaches performance
• Teachers will share common Noble Values alike students and the whole community

THE MALAY COLLEGE KUALA KANGSAR
RECOMMENDATIONS

THE PROJECT PROPOSES CERTAIN CHANGES THAT CAN BE TAKEN AND THE TRANSFORMATION ROADMAP THAT ACCOMPANIES IT

 Project Sayong will first target the Malay College Kuala Kangsar as the testing ground on a more holistic approach with an eye on developing a human capital pipeline for the future of the nation.

 The mission of MCKK will be addressed to focus more on leadership and emphasis on education as a whole.

 The project starts with the diagnosis of the system and benchmarking of other educational standards so that the shortcomings of the present system can be identified and addressed.

 Once these has been identified the project proceeds to analyze and develop a new approach to education and its strategic direction.

 In this document, the project outlines critical action plan to be undertaken and the transformation roadmap that accompanies it.

THE KEY ACTION PLAN OF THE SAYONG PROPOSAL CAN BE ORGANISED INTO SEVERAL BROAD INITIATIVES

1. Engagement Plan to Lobby for the “Special Status” of MCKK within the MOE
 Getting buy in from all stakeholders to implement proposal via the Syndication/Communication Plan
 Legal steps to achieve the special status

2. Establishing the Oversight Structure of MCKK with BoG at the helm of the command tower
 Engage other stakeholders to sort out jurisdictional issues

3. Formalizing the relationship with Malay Rulers via the Conference of Rulers

4. Organizing funding requirements to implement Sayong proposal covering both Government funding and Private Initiatives

5. Carrying out improvements and operational enhancements to the school in terms of Management, Students, Teachers and Physical Infrastructure

ESTABLISHING OVERSIGHT STRUCTURE OF MCKK WITH BOG AT THE HELM OF THE COMMAND TOWER

 The realignment of the command tower will also seek changes to streamline the administrative implementation of the programs. The role of the numerous stakeholders and their influence will be altered to better serve the school. This streamlining will cut down on the confusion surrounding the control of the school.

 The Board of Governors (BoG) will be the sole party responsible for the policies of the school and the confirmation of the school being under the patronage of the Conference of Rulers. The BoG will be empowered to appoint the Headmaster and oversee the financial status and control of the institution.

 Establishing an unambiguous oversight structure of MCKK primarily involves engaging the various stakeholders to sort out jurisdictional issues.

ORGANISE FUNDING REQUIREMENTS TO IMPLEMENT SAYONG PROPOSAL

 The school will also be semi-independent financially with the setting up of an endowment fund. This fund will be controlled by an independent fund manager who answers directly to the BoG.

 The MoE will also contribute and make available allocations to upgrade the facilities of the school to the standard expected of an institution of such status. There will also be some initiatives from the private and corporate sectors to provide aid to the school.

CARRYING OUT IMPROVEMENTS/ OPERATIONAL ENHANCEMENTS TO THE SCHOOL

• The headmaster will have certain autonomous powers to see that the day to day running of the school is carried out with minimum outside interference.

• The headmaster will change his role to that of a more administrative one with specific positions in charge of Student Affairs, Academic Affairs and Administration and Finance. This will decentralize the Headmaster’s job scope and the responsibility of control spread to specific individuals trained in said areas.

• The admission process will be changed and the programs and curriculum offered will also be modified so that the student's educational process is enhanced.

• Teachers in the school will be hired by the headmaster and the admission for said teachers will also be changed to meet the demands of the new curricular.

• The proposed improvements/ operational enhancements to the school are summarized as follows :

Management
 Board of governors will scrutinize headmaster candidates to ensure the job gets to the right person
 With cooperation from the ministry of education, appointment of the college staff will come under the headmaster’s purview
 The Ministry and the headmaster will be responsible to hire three top deputies at the Malay College

Students
 MCKK admission system to be developed
 Post SPM programs to be developed
 A quality control system need to be developed
 MCKK to revamp or adopt KPI system
 Structured leadership modules and programs need to be tabled
 The school’s academic subjects, curricular and syllabus needs to be finalized
 English is given a priority and additional programs laid out
 Exchange programs to be selected and paperwork to be finalised
 The approach to instill values requires strategic planning and implementation
 The house system is revised

Teachers
 An evaluation and gap analysis needs to be carried out among current teachers and coaches
 New teachers and coaches will fill in the gaps
 Selection of teachers is a continuous process
 Teachers and coaches will enjoy benefits superior to prevailing norm
 Key performance index for teachers and coaches needs introduction
 System to monitor the KPI will be developed

Physical Infrastructure
 Major upgrade will take six months to complete
 Allocation for new facilities will be made available to implement plan to expand the college
 Big School and its surrounding
 Academic Block
 The tasks of maintaining the assets must be taken seriously

End of Summary

Implementation Work Group
Board of Governors
The Malay College Kuala Kangsar